Ommlbus-reaister



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

F. O. DESGHAMPS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

OMNIIBUS-RE GISTER.

Specificaton of Letters Patent No. 10,503, clated February 7, 1854. i

T 0 all who m, it may 0071061 92 Be itknown that I, F. O. DEsoI-IAMPs, of the city and County of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Registering the Fares Paid by Passengers in Omnibuses or other Public Conveyances; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- F igure 1, is a front view of my improved apparatus, with the glass front and external dial plate taken ofi; the Outline form and position of the dial plate and its several openings being shown in red color. F ig. 2, is a front View, with the secret slide and concealed dials removed. Fig. 3, is a back view, with the back of the case taken away. Fig. 4, is a vertical section through the center of the framing and all the fixtures, but not through the working parts which would be intersected by the plane of section, the latter being shown entire. Fig. 5, is a View, looking from the back, of the driving-wheel and its stop, and of thewheel and other mechanism by which the second dial is moved. F ig. 6, is a section of the pipe slide and box,`in which I use a number of balls, as a check to any inproper operation of the other parts' of the apparatus.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the` several figures.

The apparatus in which this invention isi embodied, is in part the same as that for which Letters-Patent of the United States were issued to me, bearng date March 2nd 1852.

The present improvements consist in cerg tam means of providing for the registraton, of more effectually preventing any tampering dials, E, E', E", of which the first is` upon the same axis or arbor, a, as the external pointer, F, and has the same number of divisions (36, but this is not arb1trary,)

as the external dial. In the external dial plate, there are three openings, through which, when the secret slide is withdrawn, one number of each concealed dial is visible; these openings are shown in red color in Fig. l, and may be distinguished by the numbers, 20, 612, 2592, respectively, those being the numbers now supposed to be visible, whose sum denotes the number of fares registered since the last starting from zero. Between the external diel and the concealed dials is the secret slide, G, which consists of a metal plate, with openings so disposed, that by moving the slide laterally, the numbers on the concealed dials, which are opposte the openings in the external dial, (except that on the first dial which is always visib1e,) may be exposed to or concealed from view. The secret slide rests upon the axles of the revolving dials, and is attached to the bolt of a lock, H, so that it can only be moved by a proper key, which is in possession of the proprietor or agent of the Conveyance.

The axle, a, of the first concealed dial and the external pointer, receives motion to register the fares, and the hammer, b, is caused to strike the bell, c, as every fare is registered, by means of the driving wheel, d, whch is similar to, and operates n a similar manner as, that of my patented apparai tus before referred to, and is prevented from recoiling and thereby causing the hammer to strike before the fare is registered, by a spring ratch, f, in which the teeth of the driving wheel engage, as it is turned. This ratch combines with the teeth of the wheel so as to form a mechanical equivalent to the ratchet wheel and pawl which constitute the subject of one of the claims of my former patent. The driving wheel is operated by a click, g, on the lower part of a vertical slide rod, h, which is raised to bring the click in operation, by the driver pulling a handle, I, which stands outside the case, and is connected with the said rod by a chain; the rod being forced down, when the driver releases the handle, to a position to become again operative, by a spral spring surrounding the rod.

The second dial, E', has upon its arbor, i a toothecl wheel, j, through which it is made to move one degree or point, every time the first dial., E, completes a revolution. The number of teeth in this wheel is equal to the number of divisions on the dial. It is desirable that only one number of each conceded dial should at any time be visible through the opening in the external dial; and, as the numbers on the second dial are nearly close to each other, this object could only be attained by allowing the dial to remain perfectly stationary till the first dial has completed a revolution, and then to turn it one degree by a quick movement, as

is done by the following mechansm. A rod it', is fitted to work vertically in guides between the plates, B, C, and is furnished with a stop, Z, which, when the rod is not under other influence, is forced by a spring, m, surrounding the rod, up against the upper guide, as shown in Fig. 5. A spring click, n, is fitted to the rod, so as to pass freely over the teeth of the wheel, j, in mo ving downward, but to engage with a tooth in moving upward. The rod, k, is moved downward, as the first dial arrives near the end of each successive revolution, by a stud and friction roller, 7), at the back of the spur wheel attached to the first dial, which come in contact with and act upon the arm, attached to the rod. The wheel is held stationary, while the pawl is moving down, by a steadying pawl, 7', which engages in its teeth in such a way as to prevent its being turned in either direction, without the application of considerable force; and the click, n, passes over one tooth, before the friction roller, 7), passes the arm, q, and leaves it free. The arm, is left free precsely at the moment the zero point on the first dial arrives opposite the opening; and the rod, 70, being left free to the action of the spring, m, ascends, causing its click, n, to move the wheel, j,

one tooth, and bringing the next number on' the dial, E', opposite the opening. In addton to the above means of movng the second dial, I have provided an equivalent gp to the notched wheel used for that purpose in my patented machine; this is not indispensible, but will serve the purpose of turning the dial should the mechansm above described get out of order. Its operation is less prompt, and therefore not so wall suted to the perfect operation of the apparatus.

The third dial, E", turns on an axle, S, and derives its motion through a pair of wheels, i, u, from the second dial. The wheel, t, which is attached to the dial, E, consists of a disk of circular form, with a single tooth, o, protruding from its periphery, which is recessed a little on either side of the tooth. The wheel, u, which is at tached to the dial, E", has a series of equidistant notches in its, periphery equal in number to the numeral divisions of the dial; and those parts of its periphery between the notches are shaped to fit the periphery of the wheel or disk, t. Once during every revolution of the dial, E', the tooth, '22, engages 111 a notch of the wheel, E", and turns it the distance of one numeral division. This movement is not eifected by a single movement of the dial, E', but yet is effected in such a manner that the dial, E, never shows portions of two numerals at the same time; one disappearing as the next is presented to the opening in the external dial. The peculiarity of this combination of wheels, is, that the periphery of the wheel, u, being recessed to fit the circular periphery of the wheel, 25, prevents the former wheel from revolving, from the time the tooth, u, leaves one notch, until it arrives in another. The new numeral of the dial, E, always arrives in view at the time the Zero point of the dial E', is brought in view. The numeration of the dials is by no means arbitrary, provided it is such as will enable the agent, to calculate, by adding the numbers shown by the several dials, the number of fares registered since the last setting or examination of the instrument.

The apparatus is rendered inoperative, whenever the secret slide is withclrawn to show the numer-als on the concealed dials, by means of a slide bar, J, which is attached to the bolt of the lock, H, and is furnished with a stop, w, which then comes in contact with one of the teeth of the driving wheel, (Z. By this means, any tampering with the machine is rendered diflicult; as, while it is operative, the rogue would be working in the dark, and, while the state of the dials is visible, he cannot move them.

The arbors of the several dials and the external pointer can be set, like the arbors and hands of a clock, without disturbing other parts of the mechansm. The external pointer is intended to be set at the Zero point of the dial, at the commencement of every trip but not the other indices.

The certainty of the detection of any tampering with the apparatus, is increased by the number of checks; and, keeping this in View, I have added the following simple means of registering the number of revolutions of the first dial, E: In a pipe, K, which has a suitable opening at or near the top of the case, are placed a number of balls, R, R, which are allowed to descend one by one into a drawer, L, at the bottom of the case, by the movement of a slide, M. This slide is attached to a rod, N, which works in suitable guides, and is surrounded by a spring which tends to force it downward. The rod carries an arm, y, which is operated upon, for the purpose of raising it by a stud and friction roller, z, on a disk, O, at the back end of the arbor, a, of the first dial. This arm, y, after being raised, is left free, to allow the rod to be forced down by its spring, at the moment the zero point on the first dial arrives opposite its Opening in the external dial, on completing a revolution. The slide, M, has a hole through it, which is capable of containing one of the balls; and When it is raised, this opening is brought opposite the bottom of the ppe, and a ball falls, from the inclined lower part of the pipe, into it. hen the slide descends, the opening arrves opposite the entrance to the box; and the ball is ejected, from this opening, into the boX, by a spring tongue, P, placed at the back of the slide, for that purpose. By counting the number of balls in the box, the number of complete revolutions made by the first dial, since the drawer Was emptied or since the last examination, may be ascertained. By multplying the number of balls by 36, or the number of fares registered by one revolution of the dial, and adding the numerals visible on the diel, the number of fares may be ascertained.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I Will proceed to state What I claim and de- 20 sire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. I claim attaching the secret slide, Gr, to the bolt of a lock, H, substantially as described, so that it can only be moved, to eX- pose or conceal the numerals on the dials, by a key which properly fits the lock.

2. I claim combining the secret slide, G, With a stop bar, J, substantially as described, so that both move together in such a, manner that, When the apparatus is left free to Work, by the stop, the numerals on the concealed clials are not eXposed, and, When the numer-als are exposed to View, the apparatus is made inoperative by the stop.

F. O. DESCHAMPS.

VVtnesses:

C. H. RoBERTs, GEORGE ERETY. 

